


didn’t know i wanted to meet you yet

by OceanMyth



Series: Ocean's ATLA Drabbles, Oneshots, and Ficlets [35]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Ficlet, Gen, Ursa (Avatar) is a Good Parent, but still very grouchy, mai mentioned, takes place before their first meeting, zuko is a shy child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:07:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29366769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OceanMyth/pseuds/OceanMyth
Summary: Azula has new friends. Zuko doesn't want to meet them.
Relationships: Ursa & Zuko (Avatar), pre-Mai/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Ocean's ATLA Drabbles, Oneshots, and Ficlets [35]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2113209
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	didn’t know i wanted to meet you yet

“Mom! Stop, we need to stop—I think I’m sick. We should go back to my room.” Ursa looks down at her son, who’s small fists are clutching her skirts. He’s trying to hold her back from continuing on into the gardens, and his eyes are wide and pleading. 

“Are you sure Zuko?” He nods as solemnly as a seven year old can, before continuing to try and tug her backwards down the hall. Ursa sighs, and lets Zuko tow her away from the gardens. He’s been acting strangely for the past few days, preferring to stay in his room reading than to spend any time with her or Azula. He’d even been avoiding Lu Ten, and considering how much he idolizes the older boy, it had been worrying Ursa quite a bit.

However, Zuko’s request offers her the perfect opportunity to get to the bottom of things.

“If we’re going to be going back inside because you’re feeling sick, would you at least mind telling me what’s wrong?” Ursa gently probes, and Zuko stops suddenly in the middle of the hallway.

“It’s Azula’s stupid new friends!” he shouts. Ursa raises an eyebrow at him, and he looks down and takes a few deep breaths.

“Let’s try that again, without the yelling,” Ursa says, and smiles encouragingly.

  
  
“You know Azula’s new friends?” She nods, and watches as Zuko kicks at a tiny little pebble with all the strength his little body can muster, and grins in satisfaction as it goes skittering down the hallway and spins to a stop after colliding with a pillar. 

“They make me feel weird. Especially— I don’t know what her name is,” he looks up at her solemnly, “and I  _ don’t wanna _ , but she’s the quiet one.” Ursa can’t contain her laughter, though she does make a futile attempt to muffle it with her hand. Zuko’s cheeks puff up into a pout. 

“Zuko you’re not feeling sick— you’re just feeling shy. It’s perfectly normal, especially around new friends.” She manages to refrain from adding a quip about pretty girls to the end, since it would only push Zuko further into his shell.

Zuko’s face scrunches up and he shakes his head. “I don’t care. It makes me feel weird and I hate it.” 

Ursa sighs, and offers Zuko her hand.

“I won’t make you go introduce yourself today, but I expect you to come with me to the gardens tomorrow. You don’t have to talk to them if you don’t want to, but they’re your sister’s friends and you should know their names at least, so you will be introducing yourself.”

Zuko looks like he wants to fight with her for a second, before abruptly deflating and taking her hand. “Fine, but I still think girls are stupid.”

**Author's Note:**

> is this explicitly Maiko? no, but the idea of Zuko being painfully shy about meeting his sister's pretty new friend was priceless and in the end it was worth it.
> 
> tell me what you think in the comments, or on tumblr @justoceanmyth


End file.
